Spanish Conversation · Level 134
45 words
Spanish word
disperso
Pronunciation
IPA/disˈpeɾso/
Meaning
- adjectivescattered
Example
Los papeles dispersos están por todo el suelo.
The scattered papers are all over the floor.
More examples
Sus pensamientos estaban dispersos durante la reunión.
His thoughts were scattered during the meeting.
Core concept
Objects or people scattered across an area.
Common phrases
personas dispersas
scattered people
tener la atención dispersa
have one's attention scattered
Similar words
esparcido: Distributed as isolated points or thinly scattered patches on a surface.
diseminado: Found widely dispersed as small, discrete elements across a large area.
desparramado: Laid out or spilled in a disorderly, wide pattern across the ground.
Definition in Spanish
Expresa que algo se halla distribuido en distintos lugares, sin formar agrupamiento.
Word origin
The adjective comes from Latin dispersus 'spread apart', formed from dis- 'apart' and spargere 'to scatter'.
Usage tips
- Often used after nouns and commonly paired with estar to describe location, and it requires gender and number agreement (disperso/dispersos, dispersa/dispersas), unlike English 'scattered'.
Other meanings
- dispersedadjective
- absent-mindedadjective
Opposites
- agrupadoclusteredadjective
- concentradofocusedadjective
Related words
- dispersióndispersionnoun
- dispersarscatterverb